dead weight

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dead weight

noun dead weights · deadweight

countable, uncountable Unremitting heavy weight that does not move. His dead weight, as he abruptly collapses, pulls his lapels from her hands, reminding her to step back, off-balancing whoever is behind her, […]
countable, uncountable The largest weight of cargo a ship is able to carry; i.e., the weight of a ship when fully loaded minus its weight when empty.
countable, uncountable A dead load.
countable, figuratively, uncountable That which is useless or excess; that which slows something down. She wants to shed the dead weight of so many stacks of old clutter.
countable, uncountable The total (unpowered) weight of a train to be propelled (or hauled) by the locomotive; another locomotive being hauled dead as part of the train is a dead weight. Having dropped the coach, the trio returned with the Class 47 leading and the other two locomotives as dead weight.

adverb deadweight

of a shot in snooker or other cue sports With just enough weight for a ball to drop into a pocket, or come to rest in a precisely determined position. He rolled the red in dead weight, and now he's nicely on the blue.

Translations

Every language

noun dead weight

Español	peso muerto
日本語	死重 shijū, デッドウェイト deddoweito
Português	peso morto
Français	poids mort
Deutsch	Totgewicht
Italiano	peso morto

noun (figuratively) useless, usually encumbering factor

Français	poids mort, boulet
Italiano	peso morto
Русский	балла́ст ballást
Tiếng Việt	của nợ

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MLA

"dead weight." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dead%20weight. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dead weight. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dead%20weight

Chicago

"dead weight." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dead%20weight.

BibTeX

@misc{dead_weight_2026,
  title = {dead weight},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dead%20weight},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}